Donald Trump’s Oval Office appearance with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi ended on a sour note after he made a tone-deaf comment about Japan attacking Pearl Harbor in 1941.
At the end of what was a mostly cordial joint appearance, the president was asked why he did not alert the leadership of Japan and other allies about his impending attack on Iran.
First stating that he didn’t want to lose the element of surprise, he took what seemed an awkward stab at a joke, saying, “Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Okay, why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor?"
That led to a few scattered laughs and then some murmuring, as the president continued, “You believe in surprise, I think, much more so than us. And we had a surprise, and we did, and because of that surprise, we knocked out, the first two days, we probably knocked out 50% of what we — and much more than we anticipated doing. So if I go and tell everybody about it, there’s no longer a surprise, right?”
Needless to say, social media lit up over the tasteless remark.
Former Chicago Tribune editor Mark L Jacob was quick to respond with, “Trump jokes about Pearl Harbor with his guest, the Japanese prime minister. He’s mentally unhinged, with no impulse control or sense of what’s appropriate.”
“I can’t believe that Trump just joked about Pearl Harbor while sitting next to Japan’s prime minister at the White House. What an absolute embarrassment!” added Democratic strategist Jon Cooper. Journalist Steven Beschloss added, “’Who knows more about surprise than Japan? Why didn't you tell me about Pearl Harbor?’ -- the embarrassing idiot Donald Trump in response to a Japanese reporter's question about starting a war with Iran while sitting next to the Japanese prime minister.”
Educator Orion noted, “You can hear the air go out of the room.”
“This is another leak in the cognitive damn. Look for increasingly racist comments in the coming weeks. Unless biology steps in and saves us, I have a feeling we’ll hear the N word by the midterms,” predicted Democracy Dude.
“I didn't think he could still make me gasp, but I was wrong,” admitted archivist Rubberband Girl Cheryl McNeilly noted.
“My great-aunt Hisako was a Nagasaki survivor. Great-uncle was a pilot, brought her to US post-war. We saw her regularly till her death when I was 20. Sweet, gentle woman. First rule of the family was to NEVER discuss the war. Ever. Even when cancer finally killed her. The look on the PMs face ...”